\\«ov. proceedi.no 5> CALiFOKxiA acade:my of sciences. The Gigantic. Expedition of the California Academy of Sciences. Land Tortoises of the

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1 \\«ov 9 proceedi.no 5> CALiFOKxiA acade:my of sciences FOUBTH SeBJES Vol. II, Pt. I. pp L pis i Septembee 3C» Expedition of the California Academy of Sciences to the Galapagos Islands, The Gigantic Land Tortoises of the Galapagos Archipelago ToKx Vak Dekbuxgh S-A.X FR-\XCISCO PUBOSHEI* BY THE ACJO^MY 1914

2 COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION George C. Edwards, Chairman C. E. Grunsky Edwin C. Van Dyke BRITTON a REY SAN FRANCISCO

3 PROCEEDINGS OP THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Fourth Series Vol.. II, Pt. I, pp , pis September 30, 1914 EXPEDITION OF THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF TO THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS J905-J906 SCIENCES X THE GIGANTIC LAND TORTOISES OF ARCHIPELAGO THE GALAPAGOS BY JOHN VAN DENBURGH Curator of the Department of Herpetology CONTENTS PAGE Introduction 206 Gigantic Land Tortoises, Fossil and Recfnt 206 Indian Ocean Races 206 Galapagoan Races 209 Early History 209 First Discovery, Cowley, Dampier, Rogers, Clipperton, Colnett, Delano, Porter, Hall, Morrell, First Settlement, Downes, September 30, 1914.

4 '. ' 204 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Pkoc. 4th Ser. Later Visits 220 Darwin, "Venus," "Herald," "Eugenie," Dr. Habel, Hassler, Cookson, "Challenger," "Albatross," 1888 and Baur and Adams, Webster-Harris, Snodgrass and Heller Captain Noyes Beck, 1901 and Academy Expedition, Present Status 243 Number of Races 243 Living 243 Extinct 243 Systematic Account Nomenclature 244 Names proposed 244 Discussion of names 244 Testudo nigra 244 californiana 245 elephantopus 245 nigrita 249 planiceps '. 251 ephippium 251 microphyes 252 vicina 253 galapagoensis 255 guntheri 256 wailacei 257 Application of names Description 259 Characters available for classification 259 The shell 259 Variation in plates 260 Variation in shape 289 Measurements used 289 Charts of each measurement 289 Table of averages 289 extremes 289 Differences with age 289 sex 289 distribution 290

5 \'0L. II, Pt. I] VAN DEVBURGH GALAPAGOS TORTOISES 205 The head, neck and limbs 291 Variation in proportions 291 color 291 Osteological 292 Key to the Galapagoan Races 293 Description of each Race 295 The Saddle-backed Races Testudo abingdom; Abingdon phantastica ; Narborough becki; North Albemarle 30?^ 3 4. ephippium; Duncan 365 / 5. hoodensis; Hood elephantopms; Charles 316 The Intermediate Races Testudo darwini; James chathamensis; Chatham microphyes; Albemarle giintheri ; S. E. Albemarle ' vicina; South Albemarle wallacei; Jervis 351 The Dome-shaped Races Testudo porteri; Indefatigable species? ; Cowley Mountain, Albemarle 362 The Unknown Race Testudo species? ; Barrington 365 General Conclusions 366 Bibliography 369

6 2Q5 CAUFORXIA ACADEMY OF SCIEXCES [Pxoc. 4th Ses. IXTRODUCTIOX. The gigantic land tortoises do not differ essentially, in any other respect than in size, from the numerous small species of the genus Tesfudo which exist in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere. They are t}-pical chelonians, modified, as are the other mem.bers of the genus, for a purely terrestrial life, but differing from the ordinary t^-pe in their gigantic proportions. Even in size, however, there is no very sharp line of division between the smallest adults of some "gigantic'' races and the largest individuals of certain species that are not so designated. The geological histor\' of the gigantic tortoises is still but fragmentan,-. We know that in the Tertian.' period they were far more widely distributed than during historic times. Their remains appear as early as the Eocene, but become more numerous in Miocene and Pliocene formations. They have been found in Nebraska and Wyoming, in France. Germany, Malta, on the Lebanon, in the Sivalik Hills in India, and perhaps also in Brazil. It thus appears that these huge tortoises were formerly widely distributed over the earth ; but it yet remains to be shown whether these giant races are closely related one to another, or have been independently developed from smaller species in situations where climate and food and the absence of enemies were m-ost favorable to their growth. In recent and historic times gigantic land tortoises have existed only in certain isolated groups of islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans, where the early explorers found them in almost incredible numbers. The rapidit}- with which they ha^e disappeared from these islands upon the advent of man, and even upon the advent of the smaller predator}^ mammals, sufficiently explains their earlier extinction upon all the continents where they formerly occurred. Although this paper will be immediately concerned only with the tortoises native to the Galapagos Archipelago, in the eastern Pacific, it will be well to review the history and distribution of the tortoises of the islands of the Indian Ocean. therefore quote a few paragraphs from Dr. Giinther's excellent presidential address to the Linnean Society (1898). I

7 Vol. II, Pt. I] VAN DESBURGH GALAPAGOS TORTOISES 207 ''The historical evidence of their existence in Madagascar is extremely scanty and vague. They had been cleared off from the inhabited parts of the island at the time when the first Europeans landed. If any of them had existed near the districts occupied by the French settlers of the seventeenth century, they would have been mentioned in some of the reports on the natural productions of the country which these people sent home. But their osseous remains, some in very perfect condition and of comparatively recent appearance, show that these animals were at one time widely spread over the island; they are often found associated with bones of ^pyornithes. Hippopotamus, cattle, and belong to two or three species. Their extermination probably began with the arrival of man in IMadagascar; and it is highly improbable, though by no means impossible, that some individuals have survived and still linger in the vast tracts of country which are still unexplored. "Very different were the conditions of life in the islands which are scattered over the ocean in a semi-circle round the north of Madagascar. With the exception of the Comoro group, none of these islands were inhabited by man or large mammals. Consequently the tortoises lived there in absolute security for ages, and multiplied to a degree which excited the admiration of all the early European visitors. They occupied in incredible numbers not only the larger islands of the Aldabra group, the Seychelles, Reunion, Mauritius, Rodriguez, but also the small ones with an area of a few square miles only, and with their highest points raised scarcely 100 feet above the level of the water, provided that the coral soil produced a sufficient amount of vegetation to supply them with food and shelter from the sun. Of this we have not only the testimony of trustworthy voyagers of the last two centuries, but the direct evidence of remains which accident now and then brings to the surface. A short time ago I received from my friend. Dr. Bruce, a resident at Mahe, to whom many a naturalist is indebted for assistance and hospitality, the well-preser\-ed eggshells of a gigantic land tortoise, imbedded in a conglomerated mass of coral-sand. They came from a small island of the Amirante group, on which Dr. Bruce formed a plantation of Cocoanut-palms, and on which no tortoise had ever been known

8 nno CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Ser. to live. In order to secure the moisture requisite for germination and the growth of the seedling, it was necessary to plant the nuts in pits dug through loose sand to a depth of about three feet, and then through a crust of solidified coral-sand of one foot thickness. It was below this crust that the eggs were found, showing that probably centuries had elapsed since the eggs were deposited, and indicating at the same time that we shall have to go below the surface, if we want to become acquainted with the extinct autochthont races of these islands. "The sad history of the extermination of the Mascarene tortoises is so well known that I may dispense with a repetition of its details. I will only allude to some facts with which I have become recently acquainted. The tortoises, as you know, have proved excellent and more wholesome food than the turtles. Therefore every passing ship stowed away for her long voyage as many as she could carry. With the increase of the population of the settlements, augmented by military and naval forces, the indigenous supply was rapidly exhausted ; it was then supplemented by importation from other islands; and we can form an idea of the extent to which this inter-insular transport was carried from official reports to the French Indian Company. In 1759 four small vessels were especially appointed for the sen-ice of bringing tortoises from Rodriguez to Mauritius ; one vessel carried a cargo of 6000; and altogether more than 30,000 were imported into Mauritius within the space of eighteen months. "The result of this prodigality was that, at the beginning of our century, the tortoises had been pretty well swept off the whole of the islands in the Indian Ocean, so that at the present time only one spot remains where they have survived in a wild state, viz., the south island of the Aldabran atoll. Although only 18 miles long and about one mile wide, it offers by its rugged, deeply fissured surface, which is overgrown with impenetrable bush, a safe retreat to the small number of the survivors. Aldabra has never been inhabited, and only within recent years a station has been established on it for a few men who are engaged in industrial pursuits for the lessee, who rents the island from the Mauritian Government."

9 Vol. II, Pt. I] J'AN DENBURGH GALAPAGOS TORTOISES 209 Turning now to the islands of the Pacific Ocean we find evidence of the natural existence of land tortoises only in the Galapagos Archipelago. The Galapagos Islands form a fairly compact group lying under the equator, some five or six hundred miles west of the coast of Ecuador. There are some twenty-four named islands, and numerous islets and rocks. The principal islands are Albemarle, Indefatigable. Narborough, James, Chatham, Charles, Hood, Bindloe, Abingdon, Barrington, Duncan, Tower and Jervis. All are volcanic. There are said to be at least two thousand craters, some of which, on the larger islands, are of immense size, rising to a height of from three to four thousand feet. A terrific eruption occurred on Narborough in 1825, but no great volcanic activity has been reported in any of the craters since "Considering that these islands are placed directly under the equator, the climate is far from being excessively hot ; this seems chiefly caused by the singularly low temperature of the surrounding water brought here by the great southern polar current. Excepting during one short season, very little rain falls, and even then it is irregular; but the clouds generally hang low. Hence, while the lower parts of the islands are very sterile, the upper parts, at a height of a thousand feet and upward, possess a damp climate and a tolerably luxuriant vegetation. This is especially the case on the windward sides of the islands, which first receive and condense the moisture from the atmosphere." There is some uncertainty as to who first discovered the Galapagos Islands. Some historians think it possible that they may have been visited by the Inca, Tupac Yupangi, grandfather of the Inca, Atahualpa, whom Pizarro put to death. But however this may have been, there were no signs of human habitation when the islands were discovered by Europeans in the sixteenth century. The credit for this discovery, which is said to have occurred on the 10th of March, 1535, has been given to the Spaniard, Fray Tomas de Berlanga. The early Spanish visitors found these islands occupied by tortoises in such numbers that they applied to the group the Spanish term for these creatures, Galapagos.

10 : : 210 CALIFORMA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Peoc. 4th Ser. During the latter part of the seventeenth, the eighteenth, and the earlier part of the nineteenth centuries, the Galapagos Islands were visited at more or less frequent intervals by buccaneers, whalers, adventurers, w^ar-vessels, and others, in search, often, of water and a supply of tortoises for food. To these visits are due the earlier accounts of the tortoises of these islands, as well as the specimens which, finding their way into museums, have served as a basis for the original descriptions of many species. It is difficult for us in these days of rapid travel, when vessels are supplied with an endless variety of canned foods, to appreciate the interest which the early navigators, on their long, slow voyages, had in these animals, which were easy of capture, could be stowed in numbers in the hold of a vessel, kept for months without food, and were When used as needed to furnish an abundance of fresh meat. we are told that single vessels took on board at one time three or four hundred tortoises, we cannot wonder that the number remaining on the islands was rapidly reduced. It was especially toward the end of the seventeenth century that the Galapagos Islands were visted by buccaneers. Their accounts have been quoted by Baur and Giinther. Cowley, Wafer, and Dampier have given accounts of these visits, and Cowley published a map of the islands; The first visit, by Cowley, Cooke, Dampier, and Edward Davis, was in Davis, Wafer, Knight and Harris were there again the next year, and in 1687 Davis and Wafer made a third visit. It is to Dampier that we owe the first account of the land He visited the Galapagos Islands several times, and tortoises. in his Nezv Voyage Round the World, published in 1697, tells us "The land-turtles are so numerous that five or six hundred men might subsist on them alone for several months, without any other sort of provision. They are extraordinary large and fat, and so sweet that no pullet eats more pleasantly. One of the largest of these creatures will weigh 150 or 200 weight, and some of them are two foot, or two foot six inches, over the callapee or belly." In a later edition of his Voyages Dampier states "The oil saved from them was kept in jars, and used instead of butter to eat with dough-boys or dumplings. We lay here

11 : ; Vol. II, Pt. I] VAN DENBURGH GALAPAGOS TORTOISES 211 feeding sometimes on land-turtle, sometimes on sea-turtle, the'-e being plenty of either sort ; but the land-turtle, as they exceed in sweetness, so do they in numbers ; it is incredible to report how numerous they are." The French Captain, de Beauchesne, visited these islands in June, 1700, but his account is said to add nothing to the history of the land tortoises. The best of the earlier accounts of the tortoises is that of Woodes Rogers, who was in the Galapagos Archipelago in September, I quote as follows : "Some of the largest of the land-turtles are about 100 pounds weight, and those of the sea upwards of 400. The land-turtles laid eggs on our deck. Our men brought some from the shore about the bigness of a goose egg, white, with a large big shell, exactly round. The creatures are the ugliest in Nature, the shell not unlike the top of an old hackney-coach, as black as jet and so is the outside skin, but shriveled and very rough. The legs and necks are very long, and about the bigness of a man's wrist; and they have club-feet, as big as one's fist, shaped much like those of an elephant, with five thick nails on the fore-foot and but four behind, and the head little, and visage small like snakes, and look very old and bleak. When at first surprised they shrink their neck, head, and legs under their shell. Two of our men, with Lieutenant Stratton and the trumpeter of the Duchess, affirm they saw vast large ones of this sort, about four feet high. They mounted two men on the back of one of them, which, with its usual slow pace, carried them and never regarded the weight. They supposed this could not weigh less than 700 pounds. I do not affect giving relations of strange creatures so frequently done by others; but when an uncommon creature falls in my way, I cannot omit it. The Spaniards tell us, they know of none elsewhere in these seas, but they are common in Brazil." Different islands were visited by Rogers. He continues 'T saw no sort of beast, but there are guanos [iguanas] in abundance, and land-turtles almost on every island. It is strange how the latter got here, because they cannot come of themselves, and none of that sort are found on the main." In 1720, Clipperton was for ten days in these islands. Vancouver, who determined the position of some in Sfo to land. 1795, did not

12 : 212 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Ser. Captain James Colnett, whose Voyage to the South Atlantic was published in surveyed the Galapagos Archipelago in He was the first to mention the presence of tortoises on Abingdon Island. Amasa Delano first visited the Galapagos Islands in 1800 but returned there later. He reports tortoises still abundant on Hood, Charles, James, and Albemarle islands. In his Narrative of Voyages and Travels, published in Boston in 1817, with a second edition in 1818, he says "The terrapin, or, as it is sometimes called, the land tortoise, that is found here, is by far the largest, best, and most numerous of any place I have ever visited. Some of the largest weigh three or four hundred pounds, but their common size is between fifty and one hundred pounds. They have a very long neck, which, together with their head, has a very disagreeable appearance, very much resembling a large serpent. I have seen them with necks between two and three feet long, and when they saw anything that was new to them, or met each other, they would raise their heads as high as they could, their necks being nearly vertical, and advance with their mouths wide open, appearing to be the most spiteful of any reptile whatever ; sometimes two of them would come up to each other in that manner, so near as almost to touch, and stand in that position for two or three minutes, appearing so angry that their mouths, heads, and necks appeared to quiver with passion ; when by the least touch of a stick against their necks or heads, they would sink back in an instant, and draw their necks, heads, and legs into their shells. This is the only quick motion I ever saw them perfonn. I was put in the same kind of fear that is felt at the sight or near approach of a snake at the first one I saw, which was very large. I was alone at the time, and he stretched himself as high as he could, opened his mouth, and advanced toward me. His body was raised more than a foot from the ground, his head turned forward in the manner of a snake in the act of biting, and raised two feet and a half above his body. I had a musket in my hand at the time, and when he advanced near enough to reach him with it, I held the muzzle out so that he hit his neck against it, at the touch of which he dropped himself upon the ground and instantly secured all his limbs within his shell. They are per-

13 Vol. II, Pt. I] VAN DENBURGH GALAPAGOS TORTOISES 213 fectly harmless, as much so as any animal I know of, notwithstanding their threatening appearance. They have no teeth, and of course cannot bite very hard. They take their food into their mouths by the assistance of the sharp edge of the upper and under jaw, which shut together one a little within the other, so as to nip grass, or any flowers, berries, or shrubbery, the only food they eat. ''Those who have seen the elephant have seen the exact resemblance of the leg and foot of a terrapin. I have thought that I could discover some faint resemblance to that animal in sagacity. They are very prudent in taking care of themselves and their eggs, and in their manner of securing them in their nests; and I have observed on board my own ship, as well as on others, that they can easily be taught to go to any place on the deck which may be fixed for them to be constantly kept in. The method to effect this is by whipping them with a small line when they are out of place, and to take them up and carry them to the place arranged for them, which being repeated a few times will bring them into the practice of going themselves, by being whipped when they are out of their place. They can be taught to eat on board a ship as well as a sheep or a goat, and will live for a long time if there is proper food provided for them. This I always took care to do when in a place where I could procure it. The most suitable to take on board a ship is prickly pear-trees, the trunk of which is a soft, pithy substance, of a sweetish taste, and full of juice. Sometimes I procured grass for them. Either of these being strewed on the quarter-deck, the pear-tree being cut fine, would immediately entice them to come from all parts of the deck to it; and they would eat in their way as well as any domestic animal. I have known them to live several months without food; but they always in that case grow lighter and their fat diminishes, as common sense teaches, notwithstanding some writers have asserted the contrary. If food will fatten animals, to go without it will make them lean, 'T carried at one time from James Island three hundred very good terrapins to the island of Massa Fuero, and there landed more than one-half of them, after having them sixty days on board my ship. Half of the number landed died as soon as they took food. This was owing to the stomachs

14 O-f^ CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Ser. having got so weak and out of tone that they could not digest it. As soon as they eat any grass after landing they would froth at the mouth, and appeared to be in a state of insanity, and died in the course of a day or two. This satisfied me that they were in some degree like other animals, and only differed from them by being slower in their motions, and that it takes a longer time to produce an effect upon their system than upon that of other creatures. Those that survived the shock which was occasioned by this sudden transition from total abstinence to that of abundance, soon became tranquil, and appeared to be as healthy and as contented with the climate as when they were at their native place, and they would probably have lived as long had they not been killed for food. Their flesh, without exception, is of a sweet and pleasant flavor as any that I ever ate. It was common to take out of one of them ten or twelve pounds of fat when they were opened, besides what was necessary to cook them with. This was as yellow as our best They are the butter, and of a sweeter flavor than hog's lard. slowest in their motions of any animal I ever saw except the sloth. They are remarkable for their strength; one of them would bear a man's weight on his back and walk with him. I have seen them at one or two other places only. One instance was those brought from Madagascar to the Isle of France, but they were far inferior in size, had longer legs, and were much more ugly in looks than those of the Galapagos Islands. I think I have likewise seen them at some of the Oriental Islands which I visited. 'T have been more particular in describing the terrapin than I otherwise should have been, had it not been for the many vague accounts given of it by some writers, and the incorrect statements made of the country in which it is to be found. The comparisons and allusions which have been frequent political made by our public papers and orators to this animal, may have led the people of this country into incorrect notions concerning them. It has been publicly said that terrapins are common to China, which I am confident is incorrect; for I have carried them to Canton at two different times, and every Chinese who came on board my ship was particularly curious in inspecting and asking questions about them, and not one, I am positive, had any knowledge of the animal before."

15 Vol. II, Pt. I] VAN DENBURGH GALAPAGOS TORTOISES 215 During the War of 1812, Captain, afterward Admiral, Porter of the United States navy, spent some time in the Galapagos Archipelago. He has given, in his Journal of a Cruise Made to the Pacific Coast, the most complete of the earlier accounts of these tortoises. It was he who first called attention to differences existing between the tortoises of the different islands. Tortoises were found in greater or less abundance in all the larger islands of the group which he visited, viz. : Hood, Marlborough, James, Charles, and Indefatigable (Porter's) islands. On Chatham Island, where he made a short stay, a few of their shells and bones were seen, but they appeared to have been long dead; and on Albemarle Island, the largest of the group, none was observed by him, evidently because he landed here only a few hours on the southwestern point. Abingdon, Bindloe, Downe, and Barrington islands were not visited by him. Some of the tortoises captured weighed from 300 to 400 pounds. On Indefatigable Island land tortoises were in the greatest abundance, of an enormous size, one of which measured five feet and a half long, four feet and a half wide, and three feet thick, and others were found by some of the seamen of larger size. On Hood Island he obtained tortoises in great numbers. On another visit he could not procure more than fifty tortoises, and they were small, but "of a quality far superior to those found on James Island." In regard to Charles Island he says : "It abounds with tortoises, which frequent the springs for the sake of the water, and upwards of thirty of them were turned on their backs by us, as they came down to drink, during the short time we remained there, which was not more than an hour and a half. But we were enabled to bring down only one, and he was selected more for his antiquated appear- His weight was ance than for his size or supposed excellence. exactly one hundred and ninety-seven pounds, but he was far from being considered a large size. Later, between four and five hundred were taken on board. They were brought the distance of from three to four miles, through thorns and over sharp rocks, yet it was no uncommon thing for them to make three and four trips a day, each with tortoises weighing from fifty to a hundred weight.

16 21Q CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Se». "Although the parties in this employment (which were selected every day, to give all an opportunity of going on shore), indulged themselves in the most ample manner on tortoise meat (which for them was called Galapagos mutton), yet their relish for this food did not seem in the least abated, nor their exertions to get them on board in the least relaxed, for everyone appeared desirous of securing as large a stock of this provision as possible for the cruise." Two vessels captured by Porter "had been in at James Island, and had supplied themselves abundantly with these extraordinary animals, the tortoises of the Galapagos, which Many of properly deserve the name of the elephant tortoise. them were of a size to weigh upwards of three hundred weight. Numbers of them had been thrown overboard by the crews of the vessels before their capture, to clear them for A few days afterwards, at daylight in the morning, we action. were so fortunate as to find ourselves surrounded by about fifty of them, which were picked up and brought on board, as they had been lying in the same place where they had been thrown over, incapable of any exertion in that element, except that of stretching out their long necks." Two other English vessels captured later, had been only a few days from James Island. Porter "found on board them eight hundred tortoises of a very large size, and sufficient to furnish all the ships with fresh provisions for one month." At another time Porter laid in a very large stock of tortoises from James Island. "Four boats were dispatched every morning for this purpose, and returned at night, bringing with them twenty to thirty each, averaging sixty pounds. In four days we had as many on board as would weigh about fourteen tons, which was as much as we could conveniently stow. They were piled up on the quarter-deck for a few days, with an awning spread over to shield them from the sun, which renders them very restless, in order that they might have time to discharge the contents of their stomachs ; after which they were stowed away below, as you would stow any other provisions, and used as occasion required. No description of stock is so convenient for ships to take to sea as the tortoises of these islands. They require no provisions or water for a year, nor is any farther

17 Vol. II, Pt. I] VAN^ DENBURGH GALAPAGOS TORTOISES 217 attention to them necessary, than that their shells should be preserved unbroken. * * * Xhe most of those we took on board were found near a bay on the northeast part of the Island, about eighteen miles from the ship. Among the whole only three were male, which may be easily known by their great size, and from the length of their tails, which are much longer than those of the females. As the females were found in low sandy bottoms, and all without exception were full of eggs, of which generally from ten to fourteen were hard, it presumable that they came down from the mountains for the express purpose of laying. This opinion seems strengthened by the circumstance of there being no male tortoises among them, the few we found having been taken a considerable distance up the mountains. One remarkable peculiarity in this animal is, that the blood is cold. I shall leave it to those better acquainted with natural history to is investigate the cause of a circumstance so extraordinary, my business is to state facts, not to reason from them. "Nothing, perhaps, can be more disagreeable or clumsy than they are in their external appearance. Their motion resembles strongly that of the elephant; their steps slow, regular and heavy, they carry their body about a foot from the ground, and their legs and feet bears no slight resemblance to the animal to which I have likened them; their neck is from eighteen inches to two feet in length, and very slender; their head is proportioned to it, and strongly resembles that of a serpent. But, hideous and disgusting as is their appearance, no animal can possibly aiford a more wholesome, luscious and delicate food than they do; the finest green-turtle is no more to compare to them in point of excellence than the coarsest beef is to the finest veal ; and after once tasting the Galapagos tortoises, every other animal food fell greatly in our estimation. These animals are so fat as to require neither butter nor lard to cook them, and their fat does not possess that cloying quality, common to that of most other animals. When fried out, it furnishes an oil superior in taste to that of the olive. The meat of this animal is the easiest of digestion, and a quantity of it exceeding that of any other food, can be eaten without experiencing the slightest inconvenience. But what seems the most extraordinary in this animal, is the length of time that it

18 218 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Sii. can exist without food ; for I have been well assured that they have been piled away among the casks in the hold of a ship, where they have been kept eighteen months, and when killed at the expiration of that time, were found to have suffered no diminution in fatness or excellence. They carry with them a constant supply of water, in a bag at the root of the neck, which contains about two gallons, and on testing that found in those we killed on board, it proved perfectly fresh and sweet. They are very restless when exposed to the light and heat of the sun, but will lie in the dark from one year's end to the other without moving. In the daytime, they appear remarkably quick-sighted and timid, drawing their head into their shell on the slightest motion of any object; but they are entirely destitute of hearing, as the loudest noise, even the firing of a gun, does not seem to alarm them in the slightest degree, and at night or in the dark they appear perfectly blind. * * * 'phg shells of those of James Island are sometimes remarkably thin and easily broken, but more particularly so as they become advanced in age; when, whether owing to the injuries they receive from their repeated falls in ascending and descending the mountain, or from injuries received otherwise, or from the course of nature, their shells become very rough, and peel off in large scales, which renders them very thin and easily broken. Those of James Island appear to be a species entirely distinct from those of Hood and Charles islands. The form of the shell of the latter is elongated, turning up forward in the manner of a Spanish saddle, of a brown color and of considerable thickness. They are very disagreeable to the sight, but far superior to those of James Island in point of fatness, and their livers are considered the greatest delicacy. Those of James Island are round, plump, and black as ebony, some of them handsome to the eye, but their liver is black, hard when cooked, and the flesh altogether not so highly esteemed as the others. * * * [The tortoises of Hood's Island] were of a quality far superior to those found on James Island. They were similar in appearance to those of Charles Island, very fat and delicious." Porter proceeded, after his cruise round the Galapagos, to the Marquesas Islands, making a prolonged stay at Madison [Rotumah] Island, where he "distributed from his stock sev-

19 %'OL. II, Pt. I] VAN DENBURGH GALAPAGOS TORTOISES 219 eral young tortoises among the chiefs, and permitted a great many to escape into the bushes and among the grass." Captain Basil Hall found tortoises plentiful on Abingdon Island in January, Captain Benjamin Morrell, in 1823 and again in 1825, hunted fur-seals in the Galapagos Archipelago, taking some five thousand skins in about two months. He states that tortoises "grow to even a greater size than that mentioned by Commodore Porter, as I have seen some that would weigh from six to eight hundred pounds. They are excellent food, and have no doubt saved the lives of thousands of seamen employed in the whale-fishing in those seas, both American and Englishmen. I have known whale-ships to take from six to nine hundred of the smallest size of these tortoises on board when about leaving the islands for their cruising grounds ; thus providing themselves with provisions for six or eight months, and securing the men against the scurvy. I have had these animals on board my own vessels from five to six months without their once taking food or water; and on killing them I have found more than a quart of sweet fresh water in the receptacle which nature has furnished them for that purpose, while their flesh was in as good condition as when I first took them on board. They have been known to live on board of some of our whaleships for fourteen months under similar circumstances, without any apparent diminuation of health or weight." In February, 1825, Morrell observed a terrible eruption on Narborough Island. One hundred and eighty-seven tortoises were taken on Indefatigable between October 27 and November 10, During all this time the Galapagos Islands remained witiiout permanent inhabitants, with the exception of an Irishman, Patrick Watkins, who lived on Charles Island in It was in 1832 that the first colony was established. This was due to the exertions of J. Vilamil, who, although a native of Louisiana, had long been resident in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Political difficulties delayed his enterprise some twenty years, but finally, in 1831, the Government of Ecuador granted him a charter conceding possession of the islands and authorizing the establishment of a colony. September 30, V.n4.

20 220 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Ser. In January of the following year Colonel Hernandez, with twelve colonists, was sent to take possession of Charles Island, and settlers of both sexes followed in April and June. In October, 1832, Vilamil himself, with eighty colonists, arrived and "at once assumed his station as proprietor and governor of the island." The colony grew until it numbered several hundred persons, many of whom, it is said, had been banished from the mainland. These people and the domestic animals introduced, many of which multiplied and roamed at large, reduced the number of tortoises upon Charles Island so rapidly and to such an extent that within three years the people were obliged to send hunting parties to other islands to procure a supply for food. This colony later was removed to Chatham Island, where there still is a considerable settlement. In 1833, Commodore John Downes visited Charles Island in the U. S. Frigate "Potomac." He obtained tortoises there, and carried some to Boston. In the year 1835 the Galapagos Islands, for the first time in their history, were visited by a naturalist. In that year, Charles Darwin, during the voyage of the "Beagle," spent the weeks from September 15 to October 20 in this archipelago. In his classical Journal he has given by far the best account of the habits of the tortoises that has been written. "The *Beagle' sailed around Chatham Island, and anchored in several bays. One night I slept on shore on a part of the island, where black truncated cones were extraordinarily numerous : from one small eminence I counted sixty of them, all surmounted by craters more or less perfect. The greater number consisted merely of a ring of red scoriae or slags, cemented together : and their height above the plain of lava was not more than from fifty to a hundred feet: none had been very lately active. The entire surface of this part of the island seems to have been permeated, like a sieve, by the subterranean vapors : here and there the lava, while soft, has been blown into great bubbles ; and in other parts, the tops of caverns similarly formed have fallen in, leaving circular pits with steep sides. From the regular form of the many craters, they gave to the country an artificial appearance, which vividly reminded me of those parts of Staffordshire where the great iron foundries are most numerous. The day was glowing hot,

21 Vol. II, Pt. I] VAN DEXBURGH GALAPAGOS TORTOISES 221 and the scrambling over the rough surface and through the intricate thickets was very fatiguing ; but I was well repaid by the strange Cyclopean scene. As I was walking alone I met two large tortoises, each of which must have weighed at least two hundred pounds : one was eating a piece of cactus, and as I approached, it stared at me and slowly stalked away; the other gave a deep hiss, and drew in its head. These huge reptiles, surrounded by the black lava, the leafless shrubs, and large cacti, seemed to my fancy like some antediluvian animals. The few dull colored birds cared no more for me than they did for the great tortoises. "The 'Beagle' proceeded to Charles Island. This archipelago has long been frequented, first by the buccaneers, and latterly by whalers, but it is only within the last six years that a small colony has been established here. The inhabitants are between two and three hundred in number : they are nearly all people of color, who have been banished for political crimes from the Republic of the Equator, of which Quito is the capital. The settlement is placed about four and a half miles inland, and at a height probably of a thousand feet. In the first part of the road we passed through leafless thickets, as in Chatham Island, Higher up, the woods gradually became greener; and as soon as we crossed the ridge of the island we were cooled by a fine southerly breeze, and our sight refreshed by a green and thriving vegetation. In this upper region coarse grasses and ferns abound ; but there are no tree-ferns : I saw nowhere any member of the Palm family, which is the more singular as, 360 miles northward, Cocos Island takes its name from the number of cocoanuts. space of ground, which is bananas. The houses are irregularly scattered over a flat cultivated with sweet potatoes and It will not easily be imagined how pleasant the sight of black mud was to us, after having been so long accustomed to the parched soil of Peru and northern Chile. The inhabitants, although complaining of poverty, obtain, without much trouble, the means of subsistance. In the woods there are many wild pigs and goats ; but the staple article of animal food is supplied by the tortoises. Their numbers have of course been greatly reduced in this island, but the people yet count on two days' hunting giving them food for the rest of the week. It is said that formerly single vessels have taken

22 222 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc 4th Ser. away as many as seven hundred, and that the ship's company of a frigate some years since brought down in one day two hundred tortoises to the beach. "October 8th. We arrived at James Island: this island, as well as Charles Island, were long since thus named after the kings of the Stuart line. Mr. Bynoe, myself, and our servants were left here for a week, with provisions and a tent, while the 'Beagle' went for water. We found here a party of Spaniards, who had been sent from Charles Island to dry fish and to salt tortoise-meat. About six miles inland, and at the height of nearly 2,000 feet a hovel had been built in which two men lived, who were employed in catching tortoises, while the others were fishing on the coast. I paid this party two visits, and slept there one night. As in the other islands, the lower region was covered by nearly leafless bushes, but the trees were here of a larger growth than elsewhere, several being two feet and some even two feet nine inches in diameter. The upper region being kept damp by the clouds supports a green and flourishing vegetation. So damp was the ground that there were large beds of coarse Cyperus, in which great numbers of a very small water-rail lived and bred. While staying in this upper region we lived entirely upon tortoise-meat: the breastplate roasted (as the Gauchos do came con cucro), with the flesh on it, is very good ; and the young tortoises make excellent soup ; but otherwise the meat to my taste is indifferent. * * * "Of sea-turtle I believe there is more than one species ; and of tortoises there are, as we shall presently show, two or three species or races. "I have not as yet noticed by far the most remarkable feature in the natural history of this archipelago ; it is, that the different islands to a considerable extent are inhabited by a different set of beings. My attention was first called to this fact by the Vice-Governor, Mr. Lawson, declaring that the tortoises differed from the different islands, and that he could with certainty tell from which island any one was brought. I did not for some time pay sufficient attention to this statement, and I had already partially mingled together the collection from two of these islands. I never dreamed that islands, about fifty or sixty miles apart, and most of them in sight of each other, formed of precisely the same rocks, placed

23 Vol. II, Pt. I] VAN DENBURGH GALAPAGOS TORTOISES 223 under a quite similar climate, rising to a nearly equal height, would have been differently tenanted; but we shall soon see that this is the case. It is the fate of most voyagers, no sooner to discover what is most interesting in any locality than they are hurried from it; but I ought, perhaps, to be thankful that I obtained sufficient materials to establish this most remarkable fact in the distribution of organic beings. "The inhabitants, as I have said, state that they can distinguish the tortoises from the different islands; and that they differ not only in size, but in other characters. Captain Porter has described those from Charles and from the nearest island to it, namely. Hood Island, as having their shells in front thick and turned up like a Spanish saddle, while the tortoises from James Island are rounder, blacker, and have a better taste when cooked. M. Bibron, moreover, informs me that he has seen what he considers two distinct species of tortoise from- the Galapagos, but he does not know from which islands. The specimens that I brought from three islands were young ones; and probably owing to this cause, neither Mr. Gray nor myself could find in them any specific differences. "I will first describe the habits of the tortoise (Testudo nigra, formerly called Indica), which has been so frequently alluded to. These animals are found, I believe, on all the islands of the archipelago ; certainly on the greater number. They frequent in preference the high damp parts, but they likewise live in the lower and arid districts. I have already shown, from the numbers which have been caught in a single day, how very numerous they must be. Some grow to an immense size : Mr. Lawson, an Englishman, and Vice-Governor of the colony, told us that he had seen several so large that it required six or eight men to lift them from the ground ; and that some had afforded as much as two hundred pounds of meat. The old males are the largest, the females rarely growing to so great a size; the male can readily be distinguished from the female by the greater length of its tail. The tortoises which live on those islands where there is no water, or in the lower and arid parts of the others, feed chiefly on the succulent cactus. Those which frequent the higher and damp regions eat the leaves of various trees, a kind of berry (called guayavita) which is acid and austere, and likewise a pale

24 : 224 C.-iUFORS'IA ACADEUY OF SdES'CES [Pxoc. 4th Se«. green filamentous lichen {Usiiea plicata) that hangs in tresses from the boughs of the trees. "The tortoise is ver\- fond of water, drinking large quantities and wallowing in the mud. The larger islands alone possess springs, and these are always situated toward the central parts, and at a considerable height. The tortoises, therefore, which frequent the lower districts, when thirsty, are obliged to travel from a long distance. Hence broad and wellbeaten paths branch oft in ever\- direction from the wells down to the sea-coast : and the Spaniards, by following them up, first discovered the watering places. When I landed at Chatham Island, I could not imagine what animal traveled so methodically along well-chosen tracks. Near the springs it was a curious spectacle to behold many of these huge creatures, one set eagerly traveling onward with outstretched necks, and another set returning, after having drunk their fill. When the tortoise arrives at the spring, quite regardless of any spectator, he buries his head in the water above his eyes, and greedily swallows great mouthfuls, at the rate of about ten in a minute. The inhabitants say each animal stays three or four days in the neighborhood of the water, and then returns to the lower country- ; but they differed respecting the frequency of these visits. The animal probably regulates them according to the nature of the food on which he has lived. It is, however, certain that tortoises can subsist even on those islands where there is no other water than what falls during a few rainy days in the year. *T believe it is well ascertained that the bladder of the frog acts as a reservoir for the moisture necessary to its existence such seems to be the case with the tortoise. For some time after a visit to the springs, their urinan,' bladders are distended with fluid, which is said gradually to decrease in volume, and to become less pure. The inhabitants, when walking in the lower district, and overcome with thirst, often take advantage of this circumstance, and drink the contents of the bladder if full : in one I saw killed, the fluid was quite limpid, and had only a ver\' slightly bitter taste. The inhabitants, however, always first drink the water in the pericardium, which is described as being best.

25 Vol. II, Pt. I] r.4\ DESBURGH GALAPAGOS TORTOISES 225 "The tortoises, when purposely moving toward any point, travel by night and day, and arrive at their journey's end much sooner than would be expected. The inhabitants, from observing marked individuals, consider that they travel a distance of about eight miles in two or three days. One large tortoise, which I watched, walked at the rate of sixty yards in ten minutes, that is 360 yards in the hour, or four miles a day allowing a little time for it to eat on the road. During the breeding season, when the male and female are together, the male utters a hoarse roar or bellowing, which, it is said, can be heard at the distance of more than a hundred yards. The female never uses her voice, and the male only at these times ; so that when the people hear this noise they know that the two are together. They were at this time (October) laying their eggs. The female, when the soil is sandy, deposits them together, and covers them up with sand ; but when the ground is rocky she drops them indiscriminately in any hole: Mr. Bynoe found seven placed in a fissure. The egg is white and spherical ; one which I measured was seven inches and three-eighths in circumference, and therefore larger than a hen's egg. The young tortoises, as soon as they are hatched, fall a prey in great numbers to the carrion-feeding buzzards. The old ones seem generally to die from accidents, as from falling down precipices : at least several of the inhabitants told me that they had never found one dead without some evident cause. "The inhabitants believe that these animals are absolutely deaf; certainly they do not overhear a person walking close behind them. I was always amused when overtaking one of these great monsters, as it was quietly pacing along, to see how suddenly, the instant I passed, it would draw in its head and legs, and uttering a deep hiss fall to the ground with a heavy sound, as if struck dead. I frequently got on their backs, and then giving a few raps on the hinder part of their shells, they would rise up and walk away but I found it very difficult to keep my balance. The flesh of this animal is largely employed, both fresh and salted; and a beautifully clear oil is prepared from the fat. When a tortoise is caught, the man makes a slit in the skin near its tail, so as to see inside its bodv, whether the fat under the dorsal plate is thick.